Evidence of high electrocatalytic activity of molybdenum carbide supported platinum Nanorafts

A remarkable new supported metal catalyst structure on Mo₂C substrates, 'rafts' of platinum consisting of less than 6 atoms, was synthesized and found to be catalytically active electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction. A novel catalytic synthesis method: Reduction- Expansion-Synthesis of Catalysts (RES-C), from rapid heating of dry mixture of solid precursors of molybdenum, platinum and urea in an inert gas environment, led to the creation of unique platinum Nanorafts on Mo₂C. The Pt Nanorafts offer a complete utilization of the Pt atoms for electrocatalysis with no "hidden" atoms. This structure is strongly affected by its interaction with the substrate as was observed by XPS. In this work, we show for the first time, evidence of electrocatalytic activity with such small clusters of non-crystalline Pt atoms as catalysts for oxygen reduction. Electrochemical half-cell characterization shows that this structure permit more efficient utilization of platinum, with mass activity conservatively measured to be 50% that of platinum particles generated using traditional approaches. Moreover, as cathode fuel cell catalysts, these novel material may dramatically enhance stability, relative to the commercial Pt/carbon catalysts.